


New Additions

by LovingAlex



Series: Domestic AF [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, Humor, Living Together, M/M, Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), Poor Arthur, Silly, kilgharrah being a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 22:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovingAlex/pseuds/LovingAlex
Summary: “It’s quiet…. Too quiet….” Arthur mumbles under his breath.A silent moment passes before Merlin slowly peeks around the corner that leads to the living room.“Okay, so, before you get mad--”





	New Additions

**Author's Note:**

> I swear this series has become my most popular thing in such a short amount of time!! All the love you guys are showing is really pumping me up to continue!!! Here’s the fifth instalment!

Arthur’s keys clink together as he enters the apartment. It’s been a long day at work and he just wants to relax with Merlin and watch some Netflix. Maybe have take out for dinner. Give Merlin the treat of not having to cook that night.

 

Placing his keys in their little bowl (practically a relic of when Merlin got all artsy in high school) he notices that there isn’t any noise coming from deeper into the apartment. No video game on the tv, no netflix, no youtube videos on Merlin’s phone, no music, not even slight snores or anything… 

 

Merlin was definitely home, though. The worn out shoes that he wears  _ everywhere _ are still in their usual spot. Arthur knows for a fact Merlin didn’t get any new ones because he’s been trying to convince his husband to get a new pair for months and Merlin hasn’t budged.

 

“It’s quiet…. Too quiet….” he mumbles under his breath, nerves on high alert for something to be wrong or for Merlin to be trying something. It wouldn’t be the first time Merlin has jumped him for one reason or another as soon as he got home from work.

 

A silent moment passes before Merlin slowly peeks around the corner that leads to the living room. Arthur narrows his eyes at him. The man doesn’t seem ruffled as if he had fought an intruder, so it must be the second option. Now the question is  _ what is he planning to do? _

 

“Okay, so, before you get mad--” is the first thing that comes out of Merlin’s mouth while he still hides most of his body from sight.

 

Uh oh… this isn’t gonna be good…. Wtf has he done now?

 

Merlin steps out from behind the wall, revealing a lizard longer than the arm its laying on. “He looked so lonely in his terrarium! And he’s fully grown, so no one wanted to adopt him! Just look at him!” he continues in a ramble, shoving the lizard closer to Arthur.

 

Arthur’s eyes narrow. “ _ What the fuck, Merlin _ ?” he forces out around his tense jaw. 

 

“His name is Kilgharrah, don’t be mean to him. He’s sensitive and will bite you if you hurt his feelings. Isn’t that right, Kilgharrah?” Merlin doesn’t talk to the lizard with a baby voice like normal people do to animals. Mainly because Kilgharrah didn’t like it last time and almost bit his nose off. 

 

Arthur’s eyes narrow even more, almost to the point of just being little slits, and he reiterates with a bit more emphasis, “ **_What the fuck, Merlin?_ ** ”

 

“Don’t give me that look! I already got all the supplies and I can’t return him even if you make me, so he’s staying!” Merlin holds the lizard close to his chest and the lizard nuzzles below his chin adoringly.

 

The blonde rubs his forehead. He was never able to keep his foot down with Merlin. Well… At least not for long.

 

“Fine. But we’re laying down ground rules.” 

 

Merlin’s face splits with a smile. 

 

“First of all, I’ve got no part in this. You’re to do any and all care taking of the-the  _ thing- _ ” 

 

“ _-his_ _name_ is Kilgharrah-” Merlin interrupts with a pout and a rub on the lizard’s head.

 

“It’s to be nowhere near the bed at night when I’m trying to sleep.” Arthur continues with a stern look. Merlin may pull off looking cute, but for Arthur, that scraggly lizard is on his Not Cute Under Any Circumstances list.

 

“Done.”

 

Arthur wags his finger, adding in, “ _ And _ I don’t want it wondering all over the house all the time.”

 

“But Arthur, he has to be able to roam and get his exercise in!”

 

Damn those puppy dog eyes….

 

“Fine! But make sure he doesn’t get into anything!” 

 

“Deal!”

 

Merlin quickly puts the lizard down and glomps onto Arthur, pulling him into a happy kiss. Kilgharrah shuffles away and hides under the coffee table. Arthur pulls away for a moment. 

 

“I better not find that thing or its droppings in any of my stuff.” 

 

Merlin chuckles and gives him a quick peck on the nose. “Oh don’t be so crabby, he’ll grow on you soon enough.”

 

Arthur rolls his eyes. As if that would happen...

 

\-----xXxXx-----

 

Arthur tries to be nice to it, he really does, but that lizard is a damn hell spawn…

 

…

 

It all started about four days after getting the horrid reptile.They don’t notice anything wrong for a good two hours after they’ve both gotten home from a day out. 

 

Arthur is going through the doorway that connects the kitchen to the living room when he comes face to face with the bearded lizard as it lounges on the back of the couch like it owns the place. Arthur jumps and accidentally squeezes the chip bag so hard the top pops open in a gust of wind.

 

“Wha-MERLIN! I told you to keep that damn thing in it’s terrarium and to tell me when you’re gonna let it out!”

 

Merlin looks up from his book where he sits on the opposite side of the couch from the bearded dragon. As soon as he does, he notices Kilgharrah and also flinches in surprise. 

 

“Kilgharrah! How’d you get out, buddy?” Merlin sets his large book aside to grab his lizard. The book looks old, so it must be one of those ones that Gaius, his great uncle, gave to him.

Merlin goes to put Kilgharrah back in his habitat set up in the bedroom, but pauses at the door. 

 

“Uh… Arthur… I think I know how he got out…”

 

Arthur rounds the couch to see what Merlin is talking about. At the bottom left corner of the door is a slightly bigger than a Kilgharrah sized hole. 

 

The little fucker climbed his way out of his tank and clawed his way through the door while they were out running errands earlier that day. 

 

“Merlin,” Arthur says, voice low and calm. Merlin is watching the blond closely with barely veiled horror. Quite Arthur was always more scary than loud or brash Arthur. “Make some of those dusty books useful and use them to weigh down the terrarium lid. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Y-Yeah…” Merlin squeaks. Is it bad that he’s kinda the tiniest bit turned on? Whelp, time to barricade the lizard in his tank.

…

 

That wasn’t the only time the demonic hell spawn has frightened the blond. 

 

One time, it was while Arthur was just relaxing on the couch watching TV. Well, ‘watching’ as in endlessly scrolling through his Netflix List and being too picky to select anything.

 

He was about to give up and choose one of the older Horror films that he’s been meaning to watch, when there’s a weird scratching sound coming from the other end of the couch. 

 

Nothing is there. In fact, it kinda sounds like the noises are coming from inside the couch…

 

Without warning, Kilgharrah pops out of the back crevice of the couch like that alien from the dudes stomach in that one movie.

 

Arthur will deny that the screech he let out was anything other than a very manly roar. In which is was the exact opposite. In fact, he ended up toppling over the arm of the couch and everything.

 

The damn thing was in the fucking couch. How it was able to lift the stack of books Merlin put on top of its tank in the first place, the boys will never know.

 

…

 

That hasn’t been the only time the scaly creature from another dimension randomly appeared in a weird spot. 

 

Arthur once got to work and went to open his bag, only to find that the lizard crawled into it and came to work with him. His office mates still laugh about “that one time Merlin had to come and pick up their bearded lizard child because Arthur refused to get within three feet of his bag and couldn’t get any work done without his stuff.”

 

Even then, it still wasn’t the strangest place Arthur has found the bastard lizard.

 

Arthur had opened the microwave this one lazy afternoon and almost dropped the container of leftovers he was about to heat up. Somehow,  _ someway _ , Kilgharrah managed to get  _ into  _ the microwave and  _ close it behind him _ . 

 

He barely even fit into the little space. 

 

At first Arthur thought “Well, maybe Merlin put it in there. Maybe the buffoon was trying to play a trick on him.” 

That theory was flushed as soon as he mentioned the incident to the other man. Merlin looked just as confused with a hint of terror that Arthur had felt. And Merlin was a horrible actor, so there’s no way he was lying when he said he didn’t do it.

 

Actually, that’s a lie. Merlin was great at keeping secrets, Arthur just didn’t know that. However, he wasn’t lying when he said he had nothing to do with Kilgharrah getting out. 

Thus leaving the two in confusing and a bit scared of the bearded dragon

 

…

 

This lead to another incident to note….

 

During a movie ‘n cuddle marathon after a hard day, their neighbor Mordred pays them a visit. The younger man had just moved in a little while ago. Merlin acts nice to his face, but absolutely hates the boy with a passion that Arthur doesn’t understand in the slightest. 

 

Mordred is only there for a short minute. Not even entering their small apartment to sit down or have a drink. According to him, his hamster, Hester, had rolled herself out the door, hamster ball and all, before Mordred could stop her. The little rodent was slippery and got away. The man was wondering if Arthur or Merlin had seen the little gal anywhere. The two admit that they haven’t, promising to let him know as soon as they they do.

 

After Mordred leaves, the husbands look at each other in silence for a moment

 

“You don’t think…” Arthur starts carefully.

 

“No, I mean…” Merlin tilts his head to the side a little unsure. They glance at each other again, reading the other just by look alone. Without another word, the two rush to the bedroom to check Kilgharrah’s habitat

 

What they saw, they weren’t expecting….

 

For a minute there, they thought that maybe -- _ possibly _ \-- the lizard could’ve gotten ahold of the tiny rodent… Could have even ate it….

 

Luckily, that’s not what they found. Instead, the lizard was just laying casually in his normal spot on the thick log Merlin got him, fast asleep and everything. What wasn’t usual, was the weird fuzzy ball on his head. The little hamster curled herself up into a fuzzy ball and was sleeping on Kilgarrah’s head. Arthur had to admit, it was kinda cute. Looked almost as if the lizard was wearing one of those big fluffy Russian hats or those British Guard helmet things. 

 

Hey, Arthur may have an accent, but he doesn’t know shit about London. Hell, he hasn’t been there in ten years at least.

…

 

All in all, having a pet bearded dragon named Kilgharrah is an experience. An experience Arthur is not too fond of, but Merlin is so Arthur can’t find it in himself to go against it...

**Author's Note:**

> Just like the last one, the outline for this was waaaay too short. And once again, I’m quite happy with the second half that came of that UwU


End file.
